"I think I'd like to home now," Felicity told Stefan as she pulled the sheets off herself and got out of their bed. They'd been staying at a hotel ever since they'd gotten back from New Orleans because Stefan was reluctant to go back to Klaus'.

"Why can't we just wait a bit longer?" Stefan asked. "Why do we have to go now?"

"We have to go sometime," Felicity told him. "We can't stay holed up here forever."

"Yes, we can," Stefan nodded. "And here's the thing: If we leave and go back home, you and I probably won't be together much. I'll probably have to start dating other girls so Klaus has no idea that you and I have had sex, or have any sort of relationship beyond the contentious one we had when we left his house."

"Fine," Felicity told him. "You go and date whomever the hell you want. I don't care. I just want to go home!"

Stefan threw up his hands. "Fine," he said. "But you're really missing out on a good opportunity here."

"I really don't think I am," Felicity replied. "You can only ride the roller coaster so many times before it starts to seem dull and unimaginative."

Stefan scoffed. "I don't care if you don't appreciate what I have to offer. It won't be hard for me to find someone who will when we get home."

Rolling his eyes, Stefan growled and he and Felicity left the hotel and got in the car to head back to Klaus'.

"Huh," Felicity said when she noticed an unfamiliar car in the driveway. "I wonder who that is?"

"Maybe your father's got himself a new girlfriend?" Stefan suggested. "It's about time. I always thought it was stupid of him to just sit around and wallow, or even worse, waste all his energy taking care of you."

Felicity scoffed and shook her head. "Shut up," she told him. "Park the damn car and let's go inside!"

Rolling his eyes, Stefan parked the car and the two of them headed in. When Felicity saw that her father wasn't alone in the living room, she froze. Stefan bumped into her and muttered angrily. But his anger quickly abated when he saw who Klaus was in the living room with. She was very pretty. After some awkward conversation, the two of them left.

Amy shook her head as she watched them go, expressing disapproval about Stefan, and they didn't see either of the pair again until Felicity came out with her cell phone, saying that whoever was on the other end wanted to talk to Klaus. They chatted a bit more and then she left. Once she was gone, Klaus put the phone to his ear. "Hello?" He greeted. "Who is this?"

"It's Roxie," Roxie replied. "Are you alone?"

"No," Klaus shook his head. "Amy's with me. Why?"

"Would you just leave her be and go to a place where you're alone?" Roxie cried in exasperation. "I don't want her to find out what I'm going to say so she can continue to stick her nose in where it isn't wanted!"

"Oh, come on," Klaus replied. "Amy's not that bad!"

Amy brightened and Klaus immediately regretted saying the compliment out loud.

"I don't care," Roxie said. "I hate her and I don't want her listening!"

Rolling his eyes, Klaus took the phone to his room and shut the door. "There," he said. "I promise you that we're alone. Now, what do you want?"

Roxie sighed. "I honestly don't know what I want," she said. "Except, do you really like that Amy woman?"

"No, not really," Klaus told her. "But she's a body in the house. I don't do well by myself and you know your mother's not an option for me anymore."

"You know she could be," Roxie told him. "Her memory is gone. You could tell her whatever you wanted."

Klaus rubbed his temples. "Look," he said. "I know you want your mother and I together, but that just won't work out anymore."

"Fine," Roxie said. "But if you're gonna be with someone, it shouldn't be someone like Amy. She's not your type at all."

"I never planned on dating her," Klaus replied. "Like I said before, she's just a body in the house. Nothing more. You don't have to worry."

"Well, all right," Roxie told him. "If you're sure."

"So will you let this go?" Klaus asked her.

"Fine," Roxie sighed. "Instead of fussing about Amy, I'll devote my time to something more useful: finding you a girlfriend."

"Wonderful," Klaus told her dryly. "I can't wait."

"I'll try and do a really good job," Roxie assured him. "Bye, Daddy."

"Bye, pet," Klaus said to her and went to give Felicity her phone back.

"Is everything okay?" He asked her. "How was New Orleans?"

Felicity shook her head. "It wasn't what I expected," she said. "I don't think I'll be going back."

"When you met Adrian, was he horrible to you?" Klaus asked. "Because I would be more than happy to deal with him."

"No," Felicity shook her head. "You don't need to. It wasn't as bad as all that. The trip just reinforced to me the idea that you're my daddy and no one else is. That's all."

"Well, all right then," Klaus told her, ruffling her hair. "If you're sure. You'd tell me if something was really wrong, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I would," Felicity promised. "But nothing is wrong, so you don't have to worry. You can focus on your own problems without me adding to them."

"It's okay for you to talk to me, you know," he told her. "Amy's not really a problem. She's just someone I have to get used to, and I will. So if you have something that you need to say, go ahead and say it."

Felicity sighed. "New Orleans wasn't what I thought it would be. Not that I was naive enough to go there with the thought that Adrian and I would have a happy family reunion in spite of the fact that he chose to get rid of me, but..."

"But?" Klaus nudged.

"He wasn't the big disappointment," Felicity got out. "I knew about him. I knew all that he'd done and I could deal with it cause at least when he got rid of me, he put me with someone who cared. But Helene! She let me think all my life that she really loved me and that Adrian was the bad guy and cheated her out of raising me when she screwed me over just as much as he did, but instead of being honest about it, she just let me go on thinking that I had a biological parent who actually cared, but we know how true that is. I mean, weren't you mad when you found out about the spell she put on me? Damn it, I was just a baby! It wasn't my fault!" She dissolved into tears and Klaus just held her, feeling all his muscles tighten. He had never wanted to murder someone so much as he wanted to murder Helene right now.

"Everything okay in here?" Amy asked when she found them.

"No," Klaus shook his head. "But nonetheless, go away. We don't need you at the moment."

"Are you sure?" Amy asked. "Because I could-"

"I will repeat myself," Klaus said through his teeth. "Go. Away. How hard is that for you to understand?"

"All right, I'll go," Amy nodded, her voice quiet. "But I was only trying to help."


"You know," Lenora said to James, "If it weren't for the fact that my parents have enslaved an entire town and we're trying to get them out of it, this would be a really nice vacation."

James nodded. "The first one in awhile. Or ever. I don't know which one. Not that I don't love our children, because I do, but they can be a bit of a handful. Especially Susanna. But at least she listens to me. I hope she's behaving well for your grandmother. You know how difficult she can be if she's put in strange places for a long time. Henry wasn't so difficult."

Lenora shrugged. "They've been there for a few days and we haven't heard news of any problems, so I think she's fine." Just then, her phone rang. Lenora saw who it was and sighed. "Hold that thought," she said. "We might be headed for some difficulty." She cleared her throat. "Hello? Grandma, what's the matter?"

"It's Susanna," Selina said. "I'm so sorry to interrupt your and James' trip like this, but I-I didn't know what else to do. Can one of you come, ASAP?"

"Sure," Lenora said. "We'll be right on it." She shut off the phone and sighed. "I knew the silence wouldn't last forever. Apparently, Susanna's back to being her troublesome self. Will you go and check it out?"

"Of course," James nodded. "If you promise you'll be all right here by yourself."

"Yes," Lenora nodded. "I will, James. I promise."


"Thanks for coming," Selina told James when he appeared in their kitchen.

"Of course," James nodded. "What seems to be the problem?"

"It's Susanna," Selina reiterated. "She hasn't slept much the last few days. I think it's because she misses you and Lenora."

James nodded. "Probably." He and Selina went into Susanna's room and found her sitting in her crib, her face and eyes red. When she saw James, her eyes widened and she reached out, yelling, "Papa! Papa! Papa!"

"Hello, you little monster," James said to her. "What trouble have you been causing now?"

"Oh, she hasn't been any trouble," Selina told him. "I only asked you here because I was concerned and didn't know how else to help her."

"Now, you behave yourself," James said, looking Susanna in the eye. "Papa has some very important work to do and that means he has to leave." James then put her down on the floor and started to walk out of the room, but it wasn't long before Susanna had anchored herself to his leg. "No!" She cried firmly. "You no go!"

"Yes," James told her, trying to pull her off as gently as he could. "I have to go, but I promise I'll come back."

"You're lucky," Elijah said, poking his head in the door. "Your daughter still needs you. Before you know it, she'll not want to go near you at all."

"Are you all right?" James asked him.

"He's just going through an adjustment period with our daughters and it's making him surprisingly emotional," Selina told James. "Don't let it worry you."

Selina looked at Elijah and placed a hand gently on his back. "Why don't you go to bed?" She suggested. "I'll join you in a little while."

Elijah sighed and nodded, heading back to his and Selina's bedroom. After Selina was sure that everything was all right with Susanna and James, who had decided to stay for two or three days, she went and joined Elijah in the bedroom.

"You're gonna be okay," she told him. "We'll get through this!" She climbed into bed and put her arms around his neck, cuddling against him. "How are you feeling?" She asked.

Elijah sighed. "I know you probably think I'm acting like an idiot, but I just...especially with Laura, it's hard because I missed out on six years of her life, thanks to my father. Six years where she actually would have needed me and relied on me. And now, here I am and she's moving on as easily as you please."

"How do you know it's easy for her?" Selina asked.

"Well, you don't see her doing any crying over me, do you?" Elijah asked. "Just Edward!" He shut his eyes and tried to control his breathing. "I didn't intend for him to replace me when I pushed the two of them together!"

"Just talk to Laura," Selina urged. "I doubt that your relationship with her is heading for the end like you think it is." She hugged him. "You want me to get you some cake or something?"

Elijah shook his head and held her. "No thank you," he said. "Let's just stay like this for a bit instead, okay?"

"All right," Selina nodded. "Do you promise you'll talk to Laura?"

"Yes," Elijah sighed. "I promise I will."

"I think it will really help things between the two of you if you do," Selina assured him, kissing his nose. "And it will make you feel much better too."


Elijah was having trouble sleeping a few nights later, so he got out of bed around two in the morning and strode around aimlessly in the dark. He walked past Laura's room and heard sobbing. He knocked on the door and then opened it, seeing Laura clutching her teddy bear and crying. "I love you, Laura," was playing over and over again.

"What's that?" Elijah asked, coming to sit next to her on the bed. She looked at him in surprise, sat up, and rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she told him. "Did I wake you up?"

"No," Elijah shook his head. "I was wandering around anyway."

"This is the teddy bear Edward gave me when he moved into his apartment," she said. "He gave it to me with the hope that it would make me miss him less, but so far, it's only made me miss him more."

"I'm sorry to see you so upset," Elijah told her. "I could kick that Edward for leaving you in such a state like this. Only the most vile of men do what he did to you and then leave."

"He left because he knew you'd be disappointed in him," Laura told Elijah. "He left because of you! Not to get away from me! You're the reason why I'm all alone. Don't you go blaming him!" She gave Elijah the deepest frown she could make and then turned away from him and faced the opposite wall.

Elijah stared down at her for a second or two, reaching out, but hesitating to actually touch her. Finally, he cleared his throat. "What if-what if I told you could still see Edward? Carefully supervised, of course, but that's better than not seeing him at all, right?" He asked hopefully.

Laura sat up. "No, thank you," she said. "What's the point if it's gonna be supervised? It's like you don't trust me at all."

"Well, given the reason why he left, you can't say I'm wrong to be wary," Elijah reminded her. "What kind of father would I be if I let you go to a boy's apartment all by yourself?"

"A cool one who actually respects my decisions and trusts me," Laura replied. "You just don't want me to be happy because you want me to stay a little girl forever!"

Elijah sighed. "Look at me, Laura Christina," he said. Laura resisted for a few seconds, and then slowly turned to face him. "What?" She asked sharply. "Unless you're about to admit you're wrong, I don't want to hear a word out of your mouth."

"All right," Elijah nodded. "I admit that part of the reason why I've been such a bad sport about Edward is because it scares me that you're growing up. I missed out on six years of your life when you were a child because of what my father did, and I guess sometimes it's hard for me to face up to the fact that no matter what I do, I'll never get those years back, even though I really, really want to. Edward is a good person, probably the best I could've hoped for for you, but even as good as he is, you're still young, and thus not always capable of making the right decisions. Sometimes, you do things impulsively that you come to regret later, and that's what I want to protect you from. I don't want you to end up like your mother, just giving yourself to an endless stream of men who don't care about you and then waking up the next day and realizing that they don't feel the same way. I want you to be able to say with absolute certainty that you love Edward and Edward loves you, and there won't be any chance of you feeling bad or having regrets, because you deserve better than that, Laura. Really, you do."

Laura sighed. "I know it, Daddy. I look at all the other guys in school, the ones Addie flits around with, and even though she seems to deal with her pattern of one relationship after another with no real commitment just fine, I know it's not right for me. I know that Edward is the guy, and that I could never be with anyone else. I swear."

Elijah sighed. "Well, all right, then. If you're absolutely sure, I'm going to make the offer again: Would you like to see Edward at his apartment, with supervision? I want him to have the opportunity to court you properly, not any of the ridiculous customs children have today."

"Court me?" Laura asked. "I don't even know what the hell that means!"

Elijah nodded. "Which just goes to show how much society has gone down hill these days. So, do you want to see him?"

"Yeah, I wanna see him!" Laura said. "When do we leave?"

"You should probably get a good night's sleep first," Elijah told her. He got up off the bed and Laura said, "Wait, Daddy. Before you go, can I just do one thing?"

"Of course," Elijah replied. "What is it?"

"I want a hug," Laura replied.

Elijah grinned, put his arms around his daughter, and didn't let her go until Selina came into the room, wondering where he'd gone and grinning when she saw that he and Laura had worked things out.


Susanna calmed down after a few days, which was a good thing because by that time, James got a desperate phone call from Lenora that he couldn't ignore.

"You have to come back here now!" Lenora said to him. She sounded like she'd been crying.

"Of course," James said. "I'll be right there." He told Selina, Henry, and Susanna goodbye and zapped himself back to his and Lenora's house in New Orleans. "Lenora?" He called. "Are you here?" What's the matter?"

"I'm in here!" Lenora called from their bedroom, her voice muffled by tears. James frowned and made his way there where he found Lenora lying on her back in bed and staring up at the ceiling. "I've done a terrible thing," she said, sitting up when she saw him. "You're law enforcement. You might as well arrest me now. It's only a matter of time before someone does."

"Why?" James asked. "Lenora, what have you done? What's happened?"

Lenora took a deep breath. "I was at Chloe and Laurette's shop and I heard all of them coming up with a plan to kill my father. Now, I know I shouldn't have cared, but I thought the most they were gonna do was send him somewhere else, you know? Exile him, not kill him. And there was just the tiniest vestige of family loyalty left in me, so I told Daddy what they were planning. Next thing I know, four witches are dead and Chloe and Laurette's shop has been completely destroyed! And it's my fault! I turned against my own kind to help a father who hasn't honestly cared about me in years! And you know what the punishment is for people who betray their own kind, don't you? I'm gonna lose my powers, just like my mother!"

"Don't be in such a panic," James said. "Your grandmother leads the council. If you tell her that you were protecting your father, I'm sure she'll take it into consideration when figuring what to do about this whole mess. For all you know, nothing will happen."

"Daddy isn't one of Grandma Astrid's favorite people," Lenora told him. "I'm sure that when she hears I enabled him to kill four witches, she'll probably have some punishment up her sleeve, even if I am her granddaughter. She was the one who decided Mom's powers would be taken away. Now it will be my turn. Like mother, like daughter."